


The Playground

by sweetlullaby



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-01-30
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetlullaby/pseuds/sweetlullaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Santana and Finn experience some of their most important moments of their childhood relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Playground

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I wrote for Finntana Week last year. It was on my Tumblr page so if you think you've seen it before, that's probably where. The prompt was kid!Finntana. Enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think :)

It always happened on the playground. 

The first time they met, Santana was on the swing, Brittany in the sand before her playing with her favorite Barbie. At five years old, the girls had already been best friends for years. Even at their young age Santana knew Brittany needed to be protected. That was why, when a ball flew over and knocked the Barbie out of the blonde's hand, she flew off the swing and grabbed it, rushing over to her friend. She just managed to get the doll back in Brittany's hand before she was on her feet, hands on her hips and glaring at the two boys walking toward her.

"Watch what you're doing, losers."

The slightly shorter one with the weird hair took a bigger step forward, getting in front of his friend.

"Just give us our ball back."  
"No."

Santana picked it up and glared at the boy. She didn't like him. 

"Can we please have our ball back? Noah will leave you alone. I promise."

At the sound of the other boy's voice, her gaze switched over to him. He took a small, cowering step backwards, his eyes casting downward.

"Please?"

Feeling a sudden rush of pride for making him nervous, Santana walked over to him. She didn't take her eyes off of him as she spoke.

"He needs to say sorry to Brittany."

He nudged his friend and held out his hands as the other boy mumbled an apology. Santana handed him the ball, rolling her eyes as Noah yanked it away and ran back to their friends. The boy in front of her smiled.

"I'm Finn."  
"And?"

Finn didn't move, that stupid little smile on his face. She sighed and offered him a small one in return.

"I'm Santana."

Finally satisfied, Finn ran over to his friends. Santana walked back over to Brittany and attempted to ignore her friend's constant declarations of how cute the boys were, her eyes wandering over to the boy she just met. 

* * *

 

They had their first fight when they were eight years old.

Recess was never Santana's favorite part of her school day. The only reason she enjoyed it was because she got to spend time with Brittany practicing their gymnastics. Every so often, Finn and Noah would join them. After their first encounter on the playground, the four had become fast friends. They got along really well. The only ones who ever had arguments were Noah and Santana but their parents said that was only because they were too similar. Finn and Brittany served as mediators between the two. 

One day at recess, Santana and Brittany were off in the corner practicing their cartwheels. They had a tendency to keep to themselves in the schoolyard. Santana was wearing a skirt and not thinking much of it since no one else was paying them any attention. She was in the middle of a cartwheel when she heard someone yelling.

"I see London, I see France. I see Santana's underpants!"

Getting distracted mid-turn, Santana crashed down to the floor, her knees scraping on the cement. As she turned around, she was surprised to see Finn standing in the middle of the laughing crowd. She thought the voice had sounded familiar but she didn't think it would be him. Pulling herself up, she let Brittany help her away from the other kids. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to ignore the sound of someone calling her name.

"Oh, come on, Santana. Jeez. It was just a joke."

Santana spun around and glared at him.

"You're a jerk, Finn Hudson. I hate you and I'm never talking to you again!"

The heartbroken look on his face didn't go unnoticed. Neither did the constant apologies he yelled after her. She hobbled away with Brittany, muttering to her best friend how much she hated him. 

She was at his house for their daily bike ride three days later.

* * *

Fifth grade was full of disappointment.

Despite their arguments and problems, the four friends had grown to be inseparable. It worked out well for them that they all lived in the same neighborhood. Their lives had been fairly easy since they became friends until one week after Noah's tenth birthday. He woke up one morning and found that his father had vanished overnight leaving his mother alone with him and his baby sister. Suddenly, Noah was gone and Puck was in his place. The mohawk he had when they first met was back and he quickly gained a bad reputation in school. It was most difficult to spend time with him while school was in session but, once summer hit, Finn, Brittany, and Santana spent all their time with him. They did everything they could to make him feel better about his situation.

While they were all fussing over Puck, Santana hadn't noticed what was going on in her own home. Her parents were fighting a lot more, her mother would drink more wine at dinner, and her father spent a lot more time at the hospital. One evening, she and Finn were on their way home from spending the day with Puck at Brittany's house. As they neared her house, she saw her parents on the porch yelling at one another. A closer look told her that there was a woman in her father's car. She told Finn to go home and waited for him to cross the street to his own house to run over to her parents. 

"Daddy, what's going on?"

Her mother pulled on her arm as her father kneeled down to her level.

"Your mother is being unreasonable,  _mija_. I'll be home soon, okay?" 

After a quick kiss to her forehead, he pulled away with a glare to her mother and got into the car. Santana broke away from her mother's grip as he pulled out of the driveway. She ran down the street after her father's car, tears streaming down her face. 

"Daddy!"

When the car was out of sight, Santana kept running. She didn't know where she was going but she couldn't stop. There was a faint sound behind her that sounded like someone running after her. She didn't stop until she reached the playground down the road from her house. Her feet finally gave out and she dropped to her knees next to the slide. It didn't even bother her when someone dropped next to her and scooped her up into their arms. 

"It's okay. Don't cry." 

Finn's voice both soothed her and made her cry harder. She curled up in his lap, her hands fisting around his shirt. He rocked her slowly, his hand running up and down her back as he whispered into her ear that everything was going to be okay. After what seemed like forever, she pulled away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. 

"What if he doesn't come home?"  
"He will," Finn replied quickly. He wiped her cheek and gave her a small smile. "No one can stay away from you."

Santana laughed softly, shrugging.

"I love you, Finn."  
"I love you, too, Tana."

He gave her a hug, squeezing her tightly. When she pulled back from the hug, he leaned in and pressed a quick, soft kiss to her lips. Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she looked up at him, a huge smile on his face displaying his dimples. She had never been happier to have him in her life.


End file.
